Moneyville blogger Madhavi Acharya was on her first maternity leave when her line of credit slowly got our of control. There were no big
purchase, just temptation.

When blogger Madhavi Acharya was on maternity leave her line of credit was a tempting income supplement.

Published on Tue Feb 01 2011

I've been up to my elbows in tales about Canadians and consumer debt, thanks to reader reaction from our Lines of Credit Run Wild series. Stayed tuned for that follow-up story next week.

In the meantime, I have my own to share - along with some advice.

I first took out an unsecured line of credit in 2001 when I was getting married. It really helped when we had to pay big deposits to the reception hall, the florist, and the photographer. We paid it down just months after the wedding, and I didn't touch it again until after my first baby was born two years later.

I was getting the maximum EI benefit, then about $400 per week. It's not chump change, to be sure, but it also was a lot less than I made at work.

I remember digging the remaining line of credit checks out of a desk drawer and calling the bank to find out if I could still use them, even though my address had changed and the account had been inactive for several years.

The bank assured me it was no problem and away I went. Away indeed.

At first it was very sensible things like paying down my credit card, which carried a higher interest rate. I was well within my comfort level: I don't think the balance ever exceeded $5,000.

Until it did. By a lot.

I like to say that this debt snuck up on me. There were no big purchases, no high-living. I drew down that line of credit by a few thousand dollars here or there, and faithfully made the monthly payments, usually paying more than the minimum.

Just when it seemed like I was making headway, I would draw down again to pay off my credit card. At some point the bank increased the credit available, and I was grateful.

But I was also careless. I let that pattern continue through two more maternity leaves, working part-time, and salary cuts at my husband's company. (He had his own line of credit -- similar story -- no high-living, just not paying close enough attention to our day-to-day spending and trying to make ends meet.)

I didn't think about it much -- didn't want to, either -- until we realized those two massive lines of credit were holding us back from buying a home. Read the story here.

That's when we got serious about reducing our debt.

If I could go back in time, here's what I would do differently:

In general, I would have spent a little more time thinking about my finances -before- baby came along. After, of course, I was too awed-stunned-elated-exhausted to do it, especially in the first few weeks and months.

If it's still early days for you or you have a young family, do yourself a favour and take a hard look at your spending, or get a professional to help you.

After all, you want to sit back and watch your baby grow - not your debt.

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